Jonny and Joey Gomes were bidding to become the first pair
of brothers to win home run titles in the same season since 1929, when Ike Boone
of the Mission Reds hit 55 in the Pacific Coast League and his brother Danny
had 46 for High Point of the Piedmont League.

But only some older brother heroics in a one-game playoff
were going to make that dream reality.

The two both play for the Class A Bakersfield Blaze (Devil
Rays), ever since little brother Joey was promoted from short-season Hudson
Valley on Aug. 28. For the past several weeks, right up to the final game of
the regular season, Jonny was leading the California League in homers, with
30 heading into Sept. 1.

In his team's final game against the rival Visalia Oaks
(As), however, Oaks slugger Jorge Soto hit a pair to take a one-homer lead,
31-30. However, the two teams also wound up tied for the final post-season slot,
forcing a one-game playoff on Sept. 2  stats of which would count for
regular-season final totals.

Younger brother Joey was drafted by the Devil Rays in the
eighth round this past June out of Santa Clara and headed to short-season Hudson
Valley, where his 15 homers led the league by two with three games remaining
in the regular season. He was hitting .283 with 48 RBI when promoted.

The Devil Rays could become the first organization since
1965 to have home run champions in four leagues. Along with the Gomes brothers,
outfielder Wes Bankston won the Appalachian League title with 18, and catcher
Pete LaForest shared the Double-A Southern League lead with 20 for Orlando with
one day left to go in that league's season.

AROUND THE MINORS

Triple-A Calgary Cannons (Marlins) infielder Kevin Hooper
had his hitting streak end at 31 games Aug. 20, the longest in the minors since
Yankees' farmhand Scott Seabol hit in 35 in a row in 1999. Dating to 1992, Hooper
is just the eighth minor leaguer to post a 30-game hitting streak.

As Hooper's streak ended, Class A Lancaster JetHawks (Diamondbacks)
third baseman Corey Myers continued his own streak to surpass Hooper
for the longest in the minors this season. His streak was stopped Saturday at
33 games, tying him for the fourth-longest streak in the minors since 1987.
It was the longest in the California League since 1992.

Another California League hitter, Modesto A's outfielder
Brian Sellier, had hit in 21 in a row through Sunday, the final game
of the regular season, so takes that streak into 2003.

Double-A Huntsville Stars (Brewers) outfielder Peter
Zoccolillo had a three-homer game Aug. 23 and four nights later added two
home runs and seven RBI as his team rallied for a 10-7 win against Tennessee
(Blue Jays). Perhaps the most impressive part of that latter feat was that he
came into the game in the bottom of the seventh as a defensive replacement with
his team trailing 7-1.

Double-A Wichita Wranglers (Royals) right-hander Ian
Ferguson won his 18th game of the season Aug. 25, tops in the minors, but
got a no-decision in his final start of the regular season Aug. 30. Ferguson
began the season at Class A Wilmington and was the Carolina League's starting
pitcher in the Carolina-California leagues All-Star Game in June. Only six pitchers
have reached the 20-win mark in the last 22 years, most recently John Fritz
with Class A Quad City in 1992.

Class A Delmarva Shorebirds (Orioles) left-hander Rommie
Lewis had his scoreless inning streak end at 28 on Aug. 30, but he still
ran his streak of saves in consecutive games to eight that night. Double-A Birmingham
Barons (White Sox) right-hander Joe Valentine tied the Southern League
record for saves in a season when he notched No. 36 on Aug. 28. He tied Edwin
Almonte, who had 36 for Birmingham last year, and has now saved nine games in
a row for the Barons, who are headed to the postseason. Meanwhile, Class A Hickory
Crawdads (Pirates) right-hander Casey Shumaker had his streak of 11 saves
in a row end Aug. 30.

San Bernardino Stampede (Mariners) right-hander Clint
Nageotte struck out 10 in seven of his last nine starts and fell just two
strikeouts short of the Class A California League record with a minor league-best
214 in just 164 2/3 innings.

The Class A Yakima Bears (Diamondbacks) saw their losing
streak reach 22 games before right-hander Sergio Lizarraga tossed eight
strong innings to snap the skid Aug. 25 with an 8-2 victory against Spokane
(Royals). The last team to lose 22 games in a row was Class A Bakersfield in
1992.

Oklahoma RedHawks (Rangers) third baseman Hank Blalock
drove in the go-ahead run in the 19th inning to lead his team to a 4-3 victory
against Triple-A Memphis (Cardinals) in the longest game of the year in the
minors. Seven Oklahoma relievers combined for 13 innings of two-hit shutout
ball, striking out 18, before the eighth pitcher of the night, Reynaldo Garcia,
picked up the win.

Double-A El Paso Diablos (Diamondbacks) outfielder Luis
Terrero became the third player in modern minor league history to hit for
the cycle twice in one season Aug. 24; Terrero's first cycle came on May 26.
The first to do it was outfielder Cliff Floyd in 1992, a year before he was
named Baseball Weekly's Minor League Player of the Year. Blalock hit for the
cycle twice in the span of a week in 2001. Class A Daytona Cubs outfielder Adam
Greenberg hit for the cycle Aug. 17, while Lancaster JetHawks second baseman
Andy Green did the same Aug. 21.